Wake-on LAN (local area network) or wake-on wireless LAN systems (“WOL”) is a technology that allows a sleeping computer to be awakened over a network. In a WOL system, a wake-enabled network controller may have a constant power source to boot up to receive packets, and to decode packets to determine if they are wake-up packets. Furthermore, wake-up packets may be identified by a wake-up pattern, where the wake-up pattern may comprise a pre-defined pattern of bytes, followed by sixteen repeats of the system's MAC (media access control) address, for example. Optionally, this may be followed by a password. The password may be user-determined, and may be programmed into a network controller. For example, the password may be 4, 6, or 16 bytes, for example, and the network controller may be further programmed to accept combinations of the password.